Steps to Get What You Want in 2015

With every New Year people make resolutions which usually mean they want to put into place a series of changes that they want to make because the calendar has changed from one year to the next. If one of your resolutions could possibly be to get more of what you want in 2015 follow these tips to get the right attitude and have a focus for 2015.

Preparation has to be the number 1 priority and there are no shortcuts to get as much information as you can and have a plan for the negotiation. Gather as much information as you can about the person that you will be negotiating with as well as the company. Understand as much of the specifics as you can and try to the determine their needs as well as any of the pressures on your adversary before a negotiation begins. The more knowledge that you have the more power and influence you have over the other party. You will leave money on the table without proper preparation and planning. See the article Planning a Negotiation for a more details.

Aim for as high of a target that you can justify, make it a stretch goal. Studies show us that the higher you aim in a negotiation the more you will succeed. So the higher you aim the more you will get. If you expect more you will get more. Do not discount how much this step will help in a negotiation.

Learn how to listen which could be expanded to also learn how to shut up! I have found that fastest and most efficient path to good listening is to ask great questions and the result will be that as you are listening you will be shutting up. As we have discussed numerous times questions are so important to gaining knowledge so just keep this in mind YOU WILL NEVER LEARN ANYTHING WHEN YOU ARE TALKING. There is both a science and an art to asking good questions and the science is that the more open ended questions the better off you will be as this will get the other party talking. The art part has to do with tone of voice and timing. Read the article “The Path to Negotiating Success lies in the Questions” for a very detailed explanation of the process.

Be assertive and ask for what you want. Ask for what you want and never take NO for an answer. This does not mean that you have to come across to strong. Use your words carefully and do not come across in an aggressive manner but be assertive while respecting the needs of your adversary.

Challenge what you hear. Be careful not to take what the other party says at face value. Make sure that you challenge what they say and be certain that it is valid. Ask the other party to first prove what they are saying and then probe with well-structured questions and then probe some more with more well structured questions.

Make sure that you focus on your adversary by figuring out what their problems are. Encourage them to bring up their problems. Make sure that you make an effort to deal with or address each and every problem. Do not dismiss this step make sure that you dig even deeper than just the problems that are obvious. Make sure that you look at issues that may be hidden or trivial to you but important to the other side, by doing this you will be perceived as an ally as opposed to the enemy and the end result will be that barriers will come down and you will gather more information that you can use to your benefit.

Never give a concession without getting something in return. Carry this attitude with you into the negotiation and always demand something back, have a concession plan and maximize the plan. The proper attitude is to give grudgingly on items that you care very little about so that your adversary will think twice before giving into their desire to ask for far too many concessions. When you do give a concession try the strategy of tying a string to it such as “I will give you that as long as you give me this”.

This is not a race and you cannot be in a rush to get things wrapped up and complete. The problem is that the more that you rush the more likely you are to make a mistake and this will result in leaving money on the table. If you convey patience, the other party will perceive that you are not under any pressure and that can be mentally devastating to the other side which may result in them making more concessions just because they think that is what is needed to get the job done.

Do not be afraid to walk away. This is critical in the mental preparation side, knowing that it is Ok to walk away when you do not get the deal that you want. If you follow the Pactus Logic system and make sure that you prepare, ask excellent questions that are set in the adversary’s world, then you can be sure that you have done everything right and a deal should done, RIGHT! Wrong! There is still the other party and they could say NO. Do not be so set on making a deal that you will become desperate and make a bad deal. Be prepared to walk away if the deal is not good for you.

Do not be afraid to walk away. This is critical in the mental preparation side, knowing that it is Ok to walk away when you do not get the deal that you want. If you follow the Pactus Logic system and make sure that you prepare, ask excellent questions that are set in the adversary’s world, then you can be sure that you have done everything right and a deal should done, RIGHT! Wrong! There is still the other party and they could say NO. Do not be so set on making a deal that you will become desperate and make a bad deal. Be prepared to walk away if the deal is not good for you.